


A Few Mistakes Ago

by EmmaTheRevelator (MaybeItWasMemphis)



Category: Original Work
Genre: Based on Song Lyrics, F/M, Fluff, I was working through some old shit when I wrote this..., Romance, Second Chances
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-09
Updated: 2020-12-09
Packaged: 2021-03-10 07:14:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,444
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27966647
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaybeItWasMemphis/pseuds/EmmaTheRevelator
Summary: Look, Ma, I wrote an original story in the same style I would a fandom-related one-shot. This is short, sappy, and totally lacking in smut.
Relationships: Original Female Character/Original Male Character





	A Few Mistakes Ago

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own the song lyrics. I don’t even like the singer. But she has a couple of good songs.
> 
> Author’s Note: This was originally going to be a story in the Elizabeth Series, but it didn’t make the cut in my mind. I’m posting it now for lack of anything better to do with it.

_“Once upon a time_

_A few mistakes ago_

_I was in your sights_

_You got me alone_

_You found me_

_You found me_

_I guess you didn’t care_

_And I guess I liked that_

_And when I fell hard_

_You took a step back_

_Without me…”_

A music video led into a new segment.

“Dina Hill, the sister-in-law of pop superstar Memphis Hill, gave a rare interview over the phone this week and revealed many of the star’s secrets. The biggest secret of which appears to be that the 30-year-old pop star is eternally single because she’s still in love with her first love. According to Dina, Memphis’ first single ‘ _I Knew You Were Trouble When You Walked In’_ is about this first love. Dina refused repeated requests to the man, and fans and online bloggers alike are calling out the middle-aged New England housewife. Eagle-eyed fans have pointed out that Memphis hasn’t posted a single picture to any of her social media accounts featuring her sister-in-law in over five years. Online bloggers who have heard the audios of the phone interview claim that Dina’s words sounded slurred at times and believe that she was drunk when she spoke to the press.”

I turned off the old tube TV that was probably older than I was with a huff. I was hiding out in my grandma’s basement with my guitar and songbook. I don’t think I had been this mortified since that summer on Lake Wylie in Tega Cay, South Carolina, when I was fifteen. On a busy Saturday on the lake, I had gotten my period while standing on the dock, wearing a white one-piece bathing suit. Of course, this was back in 2003, and only a handful of other teenagers had witnessed the incident. This time, Dina was embarrassing me in front of the entire planet.

Given the fact that that the press had easily picked up on the fact that Dina had a love/love relationship with the bottle, I should have just kept my mouth shut. The whole storm would have blown over.

I did not do that. That would have been the smart and mature thing to do. Instead, I had stoked the flames. I wrote and recorded a song while having a hissy fit. Then I had drunk an entire six-pack of Corona beer and proceeded to release the track in the wee hours of the morning on YouTube.

_“Did you have to do this?_

_I was thinking that you could be trusted._

_Did you have to ruin what was shiny?_

_Now it’s all rusted._

_Did you have to hit me where I’m weak?_

_Baby, I couldn’t breathe._

_And rub it in so deep, salt in the wound like you’re laughing right at me…”_

“Are you completely stupid?” My best friend/manager/pissy angel on my shoulder, Danielle, had her hands on her hips and looked like she wanted to fucking strangle me.

“Probably,” I muttered as I leaned on the marble island in my kitchen and nursed a large mug of black coffee. “I know what I did.”

Danielle shook her head as she grabbed a mason jar mug off the rack hanging above the coffee pot. “I really don’t think you do. Not only did you release a song without telling the label, but your Dina diss track wasn’t exactly subtle.” She poured herself a mug of coffee and went about fixing it how she wanted to. “The press had already stopped talking about Dina, and now they are wondering if there is any truth to some of the things she said.”

I rolled my eyes. “Tell them, yes, my family fucking sucks. No, I do not speak to them. Yes, I smoke pit but so does like half of the rest of the country. And finally, my personal life is my own fucking business.”

“Do you want that with the F-bombs or without?” Danielle glared at me. “And what you like me to tell Will? This is your annoyed friend talking now. Mama gave him my number, and that boy wants to talk to you real bad.”

Even though it wasn’t even noon, I took my mug to the sink and grabbed a shot glass out of the cupboard, and poured myself a double shot of Irish whiskey. I downed it before I answered her. “William Houston lost the right to talk to me eleven years ago. The next time he calls, tell him to go fuck himself…and leave the F-bombs in for this one.”

***

Two days later, I received a text message from the last person on earth that I wanted to hear from.

**_*** Go fuck myself? That’s a bit harsh. I just want to talk. ***_ **

_*** I told Danielle that I didn’t want you having my number. ***_

My heart was suddenly beating hyper-fast in my chest. I had butterflies that I most certainly didn’t want in my stomach. I went from a grown-ass, independent woman who had sold twenty-five million albums to a nervous and insecure twenty-one-year-old. This was why I didn’t want him to have my phone number in the first place.

**_*** Oh, trust me, she made that VERY clear. I got your number from your grandma. I want to talk to you, hon. ***_ **

_*** Please, Will, just leave me alone. I know how this story ends. We’ve written it before. I’m not twenty-one anymore. ***_

**_*** Have you ever stopped to think that I’m not twenty-one anymore either? Maybe I’m old enough now to understand how fucked up the things I said and did to you were. ***_ **

That text stopped me dead in my tracks as I had been in the process of trying to remember how to block someone’s phone number. Will had never in the past admitted guilt for anything. He would somehow find a way to make every problem my fault.

_*** Where did you take me on our first date? How old were we? What was my favorite part? ***_

**_*** I took you all over Memphis and Cordova. We went to the movies, the park and stopped for dinner at Sonic. After that, we drove around talking. We were both nineteen. Your favorite part was the fact that I didn’t try to kiss you that day. The only move I made was to hold your hand in my truck. You thought I was such a southern gentleman, but I guess I can tell you the truth now. I wasn’t trying to be respectful. You were the sweetest, most beautiful girl that I had ever gone out with. You scared the hell out of me. It’s me, hon, I swear. ***_ **

_*** You have my attention. Talk. ***_

I wasn’t ready to play nice, but I was willing to at least tone down the hostility. I didn’t want to admit to the fact that the butterflies in my stomach had only increased.

**_*** Not like this. Let me call you. ***_ **

The last thing I needed was to hear his deep, thick southern drawl and go all gooey inside like I always did, no matter how mad I was at him. I needed to keep a clear head.

_*** Text or nothing. Take it or leave it. ***_

It wasn’t intentional, but I was talking to him the same way that he used to talk to me. The devil on the shoulder that wasn’t occupied by Danielle took no small amount of glee in that fact.

**_*** I’ve spent the better part of the last decade wondering if that first song of yours was about me. I didn’t really believe Dina’s drunken rant until I heard ‘Bad Blood.’ You would have only gotten that pissed if Dina was telling the truth, and you do still love me. I still love you too. I know I fucked up. I know I didn’t give you the amount of time that you truly deserved. I told you that you weren’t the most beautiful woman I had ever seen when I knew damn well that it was a lie. When we first got together, I wanted to do right by you, but I was still so fucked in the head from everything my mom did to me as a kid. It's not an excuse for the way I treated you. I was mad at all women, and I took it out on the woman that I love the most, the only woman I have ever or will ever love. This isn’t a guilt trip or me trying to mess with your head. This is my being honest with you for the first time. As you said, take it or leave it. I’ll leave you alone after this if you really want me to. ***_ **

“Fuck my life,” I muttered to myself. I was sitting on my patio with my cell phone and a glass of wine, enjoying the spring air on the outskirts of the city that had given me my name. Will was breaking down my walls in a way that only he was capable of.

_*** Where are you? Are you in Memphis? ***_

After sending that text, I downed my entire glass of wine. Then I proceeded to go into my kitchen, where I retrieved the entire bottle of liquid courage before going back out on the patio to read Will’s response.

**_*** Yeah, I’m in Memphis. I’m at home. Just got off work. Why, hon? ***_ **

I poured another glass of wine and took a big gulp before I did something either very smart or foolish. Only time would tell.

_*** I want to see you. You’ve always been able to say pretty things via text. If I’m to believe you, I need to hear you say these things to my face. And, Will, I WANT to believe you. I miss you. Nothing would make me happier than this all being true. Come to my house and make me believe you. I’m on the back patio. ***_

At the end of the text, I included my address.

**_*** I’ll be there in fifteen minutes. ***_ **

My heart lurched for a brief moment. We hadn’t seen each other in years, so I wasn’t aware of the fact that he lived so close to me. Memphis and the outlying suburbs were pretty large. I thought I would have more time to collect myself and mentally prepare. I finished my drink and briefly thought about changing out of my sweatpants and tank top but decided against it. I wasn’t about to go and get all pretty for Will. He had seen me look much worse, and if he seriously did still love me, he shouldn’t care how I looked. If he did, then I had been right to break up with him in the first place, and he could take the expressway to Hell.

***

I heard Will’s truck coming from what felt like a mile away, and I wished I hadn’t. It gave me life five extra minutes to work myself into a panic. I stayed seated because, quite honestly, I’m pretty sure I was frozen in fear. He entered my yard from the side, so I was facing away from him. I heard his heavy boots coming closer until he laid his hand on my shoulder.

“Hey, Mimi, were the first words he said to me. He was the only person who ever called me that. Others had tried in the past, but I never allowed it. I always shut the person using it down cold. Only Will was allowed to call me Mimi.

I took a deep, slow breath. “Hey, Will.” I still didn’t look up at him.

“Baby, I can’t say anything to your face if you won’t look at me.” Will chuckled.

“I’m a little…terrified,” I admitted weakly. “As usual with you, I have no idea what the hell I’m doing.”

Will decided to make things easier on himself and took a seat in the wooden patio chair across from me. It was now impossible for me to avoid looking at him without looking completely childish. Damn, he looked really good.

“You don’t gotta be scared of me, hon,” Will assured me. “Everything that happens or doesn’t happen is 100% up to you. You’re the one in the driver’s seat.”

“That song is about you.” I avoided looking at him by focusing my attention on the setting sun. “The last time I spoke to my dad before moving in with my MawMaw, he told me that you had a pretty new girlfriend. We hadn’t even been broken up for two months. I was so pissed off at how quickly you moved on that I wrote the song. I guess I should thank you for getting me my first record deal.” Bitter, party of me.

“Baby, how many glasses of wine have you had?” Will eyed me in concern.

“Three glasses,” I admitted.

“You know red wine makes you angry. Come on,” He got to his feet and held out his hand to me. “Let’s go and get you something to eat. I want you clear-head while we talk.”

***

The asshole took me to the beaten to hell Sonic Drive-In that wasn’t far from Winchester Road. It was where he had taken me on our first date. It was a shady damn move. This was Memphis. Besides poverty and violence, we were known for our restaurants. There were a dozen or more restaurants on Beale Street alone. And took me to a fast-food joint in a bad part of town that sat only a few blocks away from a notoriously dangerous apartment complex. And he said he wasn’t trying to emotionally manipulate me? I was sure starting to have my doubts.

“This was a dumbass move, wasn’t it?” Will asked after our rollerblading waiter departed with our order.

“It wasn’t your brightest.” I laughed, but there was no real humor in it.

“You want to get the food to go?” He awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck.

“Yeah, and I want to go back to my place with it. With the way you’re going, I’m scared our next destination will be the park we went to on our first date.”

I would swear that Will’s cheeks turned slightly pink at my words. Yep. The park would have been our next stop if I hadn’t have opened my mouth.

***

“Feeling any better?” Will asked an hour later as the two of us once again sat on my patio after finished a way too greasy dinner.

“I’m no longer tempted to bite your head off if that’s what you are asking,” I smirked at him as I took a sip of my fruit punch.

Will laughed. “Yeah, I guess that’s what I was asking,” he nodded. “Is it okay for me to talk now?”

I simply nodded.

Will took a deep breath and sat back in his chair so he could see me better. “I’m sorry, Memphis. I treated you like shit when we were younger. Everything bad that happened between us, I take full blame for. I was an asshole, and I hurt you. But I do need you to know that you were never just another notch in my belt. I didn’t move two months after we broke up. I just told your dad that I had because I was hoping you’d be jealous enough to at least talk to me again. I haven’t had anything more than the occasional one-night stand since we broke up. I haven’t met a woman who can measure up to you, baby. You were it for me from the word go. I want another chance to treat you the way you deserve to be treated. I don’t deserve it, and I’ve done nothing to earn it, but I love you. I can’t help it.”

“If I give you another chance, can you promise me that things will be different this time?” Danielle would lecture me endlessly if I pulled the trigger and took Will back after all the shit I had talked about him over the years. I didn’t care. Danielle had a husband and kids at home. She had an average, close family. I had none of those things, and the only person I had ever wanted them with was Will. “How often will I see you? I’m not going to play that game where we spend an amazing day or two together, and then you go AWOL on me for two weeks.” The memory of the Christmas Eve I had spent wrapped in his arms only to have him ditch me on my dad’s doorstep when the sun was barely up on Christmas morning still hurt like hell. I was not going to put myself through that again.

“Mimi, I swear to you, it will be different. I’m not scared of how I feel about you anymore. And I can’t be without you anymore either. I’ve had too many years without you, and I’ve learned my lesson. No more going AWOL,” he shook his head. “I promise you, baby.”

“What about work? You were obsessed with it. I travel a lot with my job.” It was true. Last year I spent most of it on the road. “When I’m home, I want to really spend time with you. And I don’t want to be your girlfriend forever. I’m thirty, Will. I want a family of my own before long.” The William Houston that I used to know had been deathly allergic to even the mere mention of holy matrimony.

Will reached across the table my took my hand in his. “I finished my degree, did some architecture work for a firm in South Carolina, and now I have my own firm downtown. I do pretty well, so I can pick and choose where and when I want to work. Work isn’t my whole life…you are. When I’m not on a job site, I’d have no problem being glued to your side, baby. And I want a family too. If you want to skip over girlfriend and go right to wife, we can fly to Vegas tonight.”

I think he was being serious, but that was going way too fast, even for me. I giggled. “Let’s not rush this.”

A hopeful smile was playing on Will’s lips. “What is this?”

“The same thing it’s been since we were nineteen…us.” I smiled.

Will shot up out of his seat. Seizing my hand, he pulled me to my feet and into his arms. “ This is for real? You won’t up and ghost me again after this?”

The fear and uncertainty I saw in his eyes hurt me in a way that not much else could. Sure, Will had hurt me a lot in the past. He had broken my heart, but I also wasn’t innocent myself. Instead of doing the right thing, I ghosted Will instead of breaking up with him face to face like he deserved. I’d never him a chance to change or to even explain himself. In the process, I had broken his heart just as surely as he had broken mine. I reached up and wrapped my arms around his neck. “This is real. But this the last chance I can emotionally handle giving you. Don’t fuck this up this time.”

“I won’t, hon, I promise.” He leaned down and nuzzled his nose against mine. “I love you, Memphis.”

“I love you too,” I whispered right before his lips came down to softly touch mine.

***

The stars were twinkling above us, and the moon had long since risen. I lay with Will in the single wooden lounge chair that I kept on the patio when I wanted to read and decompress. We’d spent a few hours talking and another few making out like we were teenagers again. Now I was content to simply lay in the arms of the only man I had ever really loved.

“Does it make us old that we’re not in my bedroom having sex right now?” I didn’t even bother to open my eyes as I spoke.

I felt the deep rumble in his chest as Will laughed. “We’re not old, hon. Just mature enough to know that there’s more to us than just good sex. Though I ain’t gonna turn you down if you offer.”

“I am offering,” I blurted out. I didn’t think about it. I just said it. If I had given it any real thought, I would have backed out.

Will reached down and gently forced my head up to look at him. “I won’t have sex with you, Mimi.”

My heart sank.

“I will make love to you though.” He softly kissed me.

“What are you waiting for?” I challenged him when we parted for air.

**_ FINIS _ **


End file.
